The Investigation of The Coronavirus Disease 2019 Case on Dunmu Fleet, 2020

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurred on crews of Dunmu Fleet after completion of their mission abroad and returning to Taiwan in mid-April, 2020. The first case was noticed because he had travel history abroad, but did not show any entry and exit records on his health ID card and he did not undergo home quarantine. So the hospital and health bureau concerned that he might have violated quarantine regulations. To clarify whether the home quarantine should be reissued, the health bureau conducted a further investigation. We found that the first case had COVID-19-like symptoms and one of his colleagues onboard also had the same symptoms. We did an emergent test and he was diagnosed as having COVID-19 on the same day. The central and local governments, as well as other ministries, collaborated immediately to prevent further transmission in the community. COVID-19 spread easily because of the confined cabin space, long voyage and lack of diagnosis equipment on ships. We suggest that all crew members should undergo a 14-day quarantine period, or under the current regulations, they should be tested on COVID-19 before disembarkation to prevent the spread of disease into community.